I took this photo of the famous Grossmünster Cathedral while in Zürich in 2003. The billboard just happened to be in front of the cathedral.
Of course I climbed one of the towers. If I remember correctly, only one of the towers was open for climbing. Otherwise, I might have climbed them both!
The two towers of Grossmünster Cathedral:
Close up of the other tower (taken from the top of the tower I climbed):
Views of Zürich from the top of the Grossmünster tower:
A few fun facts about the legend of the Grossmünster:
According to legend, the Grossmünster was founded by Charlemagne after his horse bowed down on the spot marking the graves of three early Christian martyrs.
In the 3rd century, Felix and Regula were members of an all-Christian Roman legion that was to be executed en masse in southwest Switzerland. They fled with their servant Exuperantius and got as far as Zürich before being tried and executed in 286 AD.
According to legend, the governor plunged the three saints into boiling oil and forced them to drink molten lead. The trio still refused to renounce their faith and so were finally beheaded.
Fortunately, the martyrs still had enough energy to pick up their heads and climb to the top of a hill, where they dug their own graves and then interred themselves.
shave ice & gelato 
We like the gelato, but the advertisement in front of a church? I guess it hides the frame of the scaffold but… I don’t know… it seems to be a “what were they thinking” thing..perhaps a different subject more demure for the church front. It is a great photo! My hunt is up here – http://melange1.blogspot.com/2009/06/sph-can-you-trust-this-face.html
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What an odd place for a sign like that…you’d expect maybe some religious for sure. Gorgeous photos!
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Wow – wonderful photos for this week! :)
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Lovely photo’s! I like the contrast of new against old…my entry is similar in spirit.
It’s hard to beat pix of beautiful architecture.
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That is a great photo. I like how her hair looks both like ice cream and the top of the church. I also liked the story of the church – a bit gross but fascinating. Zurich also looks nice – very clean as you’d expect from a Swiss city.
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Such great photos. I want to go there someday and visit the place. Happy PH!
Mine is here – http://www.mariposatells.com/2009/06/billboard-ad.html
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Interesting to have that ad in front of the cathedral.
I had a difficult time finding an original photo for this post, so I have a rerun here:
http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/eden/
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Hi, that is a great photo for this weeks theme!
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Great photos! And the first one is perfect for this week’s theme!
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Girasoli,
Amazing photos and fun information. And I must say, I don’t care for the ad location in front of the cathedral.
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Hi Girasoli, great photos of Zurich especially the ones from the top. That’s a great advertisement, but yet I also think it’s a strange placement (being in front of the church). I found the history behind the Grossmünster tower interesting.
Have a great Sunday!
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Great post. That’s an unexpected spot for an advertisement. Beautiful photographs and very interesting.
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From the angle you took the photo, it looks like the billboard is covering the scaffolding in the cathedral.
As it is the case with legends, this one quite fascinating and unbelievable.
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Thanks everyone! Glad you enjoyed my choice this week. The billboard is hiding the scaffolding of a building that is in front of the church. The church is behind this building. It is sort of deceiving. I am not sure the church had much to say in the placement of the billboard. I also love how the girl’s hair is made out of the advertised ice cream.
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Great shots. Wonderful views of Zurich!
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Interesting information about a beautiful structure…but ouch…that advertisement looks so out of place!
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Great post! I love the contrast between the beautiful architecture and the goofy modern ad. Her hair is hilarious! Love the legend too.
I see that your Gelato Clock is at 14 days….woo hoo!
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What a gorgeous view! :)
-Maryann xox
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I love the story behind this place, and the way you told it…
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Thanks again everyone!
June, I agree.
Annie, I just realized that I should change my countdown to the time I arrive in Italy as I won’t be eating gelato in Newark!
Maryann, thanks so much for stopping by. I miss your blog already! Hope you are doing well.
dana, that is so kind of you. I actually wrote this months ago when I had more time but then ended up not posting it. I saved it though and it ended up coming in handy for this post :)
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Wonderful photos — as always!
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This touches my heart and in fact, we did this same tour back in August 2005. The photo I took looks so much like yours.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thnkfst/176778787/
Rather cool seeing a report from a different perspective… But how so I long to go back there and travel ever so slowly….
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